Zack, Ellis Ritchard, and Olivia

The day of the birth the girls had planned to watch their first Christmas movie together. They got partway through the movie.

Tim, Bella, the twins, Anni, Zack’s mom Cindy, Deanna, and I moved in a long procession through the hushed hospital halls, trekking back and forth from the delivery room to the waiting room four floors and many long hallways away, from late at night to the early hours of the next day. Later that morning one of the nurses told Olivia and Zack, “I was supposed to explain to you the importance of a good support system once you leave the hospital, but from what we’ve observed, you won’t need that talk.”

Ellis Ritchard Whitton, our third grandchild, arrived on November 28.